✺ James Widegren


I’m a Stockholm-based creative director/design lead and photographer with a love for jazz and pasta.

In 1998, my best friend and I dreamt of starting an agency (and a jazz club) in New York City.

And 9 years later, we cofounded Your Majesty – a design and technology firm that today powers product and brand experiences for Netflix, Airbnb, Samsung, adidas, BMW, Spotify, Bentley, Absolut, and American Express.

Running Your Majesty for 11 years came with many roles: creative director, new business dev, and mentor brand director Web and product design lead director, shoots, and editing strategy and organizational design.

Additionally, I started the 10 Things newsletter – celebrated by industry peers for its simplicity and curation, with 270+ campaigns to date.

Your Majesty was an incredible journey, with emphasis on the culture we fostered throughout the years.

I’m especially proud of our expertise film, which summarizes our blood, sweat, and tears.

To end it, I co-developed the photo and video direction for Airbnb Plus and Airbnb Luxe. And lastly, I gave a new look to The Sartorialist.

In 2018 we joined Tesla Square by way of acquisition, thanks Jack. There I led creative for the restaurants product marketing team.

Four years later I joined my old boss and led marketing design for startups at AngelList.

Today, an independent creative head partnering with founders and teams to launch or revamp their brands and startups.

In the past two decades, I’ve garnered over 265 awards through intrepid team collaboration, including “Cannes Grand Prize,” “TASCHEN: 54 Coolest Websites in History,” “Innovative Site of the Year,” “10 Best Campaigns of the Digital Decade,” “Most Influential Sites of the Year,” and “Creative Review - Image of the Year” for clients including Nature Valley, HBO, and Nike in the Webbys, One Show, D&AD, Clios, LIA, and New York Festivals.

My work has been shown at or added to Art Basel Miami, the New Museum, and the AICP/MoMA permanent collection, with features or interviews in over 76 publications and books.

I have judged or spoken at the Art Directors Club, the FWA, New York Festivals, Print Magazine, and OFFF Barcelona + Milan.

Before Your Majesty, I worked at Big Spaceship, Waytion, Vir2L, and Razorfish.

During my childhood, my sister forced me to watch fashion shows on TV (I secretly loved it). This eventually led me to start New Industry Arts in 2005, with the mission of creating a more accessible community for the fashion photography industry at large.

In 2000, I cofounded and orchestrated May 1 Reboot – a global relaunch of websites to celebrate renewal. It constituted the largest mass launch in the history of the Web, with over 3,700 participants in 2017.

Before that, I originated threeoh.com in 1997. One of the most notable design portals of its time, it served to inspire the web design community.

Early on, I wanted to become an architect with a focus on hotels but was put off by 10+ years of education. Instead, I studied Media & Communication with a focus on graphic design, photography, and film. (I still have a weakness for interior design though.)

Before all of this, I played in 3 bands, on 3 sports teams, and was the 25 years younger member of the local Tanganyika Cichlids Aquarium Club.

On Negroni
LinkedIn
Instagram
Acknowledgment